The Treaty1 of Versailles

"The Big Four" during the Paris Peace Conference 1919 (from left to right, Lloyd George (1863-1945) Prime Minister of Britain (1916-1922), Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (1860-1952) Prime Minister of Italy (1917-1919), Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929) Prime Minister of France (1906-1909; 1917-1920) & Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) President of the United States (1913-1921.) THE GREAT WAR COMES TO AN END 1918 Germany surrendered at 11 am on November 11th 1918; the country had run out of food, ammunition and public support for the war. Kaiser Wilhelm II, faced with revolution, abdicated2 and fled to the Netherlands, which had been neutral during the Great War. With his departure, Germany became a republic. THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE 1919 The leaders of Britain (Lloyd George), France (Clemenceau) and the United States (Wilson) met in Paris in January 1919 to decide the fate of the defeated Triple Alliance. Representatives of the Triple Alliance were not invited to the conference. The French delegation, led by Prime Minister Clemenceau wanted Germany to be severely punished for her part in the war. Large areas of northern France had been devastated as a result of trench warfare. Britain wanted Germany to suffer too, but not to the same extent as France. 41 President Wilson of the United States was the only voice of moderation. America had only been in the war for a year, and did not have the same long-term grievances with Germany as her Entente allies. In January 1918, before the end of the war, Wilson had published his Fourteen Point proposal for peace, which were based on SELFDETERMINATION (people choosing their nations for themselves) and moderation to ensure that Germany would not want revenge. Germany had surrendered on the understanding that any peace treaty would be based on these Fourteen Points. The French and British governments disagreed with most of Wilsons Fourteen Points. Some of them did not make sense in practice. Self-determination was an example of this. There were many ethnic groups spread out all over Eastern Europe in a haphazard (patchwork) fashion. If they were to be governed as one unit, then some would have to be forcibly removed to new territory. It was totally impossible.

1 2

a formal agreement between two or more states in reference to peace, alliance, commerce, or other international relations to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like in a formal manner

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES MAY 1919 None of the Big Three got everything that they wanted from the negotiations. Some compromises were required. It was the French who had most of their demands met when the Treaty of Versailles (Versailles is a palace on the outskirts of Paris) was agreed by the Entente powers in May 1919:

The Germans were also to take full blame for the war: the war guilt clause.

HOW DID THE GERMAN PEOPLE REACT TO VERSAILLES? When the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were made public in Germany on May 7 th 1919, the German people were horrified. There were immediate protest rallies in Germany to try and persuade the new republican government not to sign. If Germany agreed to these terms, the country stood to lose: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 10% of its land. All of its colonies. 12.5% of its population. 16% of its coal fields. 50% of its iron and steel industry.

With a small army and navy, no air force and a war debt of 6.6 billion pounds (approximately $145 billion today) to be paid off, it was no wonder that the Germans were so upset. German resistance to signing the treaty was growing.

German citizens protest the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The head of the new German republic, Friedrich Ebert, had not even been invited to the Paris peace conference. But Germany was in no position to fight the terms of the treaty. The new republican government had been compelled to flee Berlin as a result of riots and an attempted communist revolution. Despite the overwhelming level of protest by the population, the German government was compelled to sign the Treaty of Versailles on June 28 th 1919. Ebert had been told if he did not sign, then the Entente powers would invade and occupy Germany. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER TRIPLE ALLIANCE COUNTRIES? 1. Treaty of Saint Germain 1919: with Austria. Austria lost all of her former empire and had to restrict her military capacity.

2. Treaty of Neuilly 1919: with Bulgaria. Bulgaria lost land to Greece, and had to restrict her military capacity. 3. Treaty of Trianon 1920: with Hungary. Hungary lost all of her former empire and had to restrict her military capacity. 4. Treaty of Svres 1920: with Turkey. Turkey lost all of her former empire and had to restrict her military capacity.

1. Look at the two maps below. On the map showing Europe in 1920, shade the new countries created by the
treaties following the Great War.

Poland Latvia Lithuanian Yugoslavia Estonia Finland Persia

2. Look at the losses Germany suffered as a result of the Treaty of Versailles on the map below.

a. If you were a German, how would you feel at the loss of all this territory? Explain your answer in a short
paragraph. We just lost 10% of the countrys population to those foreigners and whats even worse the company I used to work at is now in another country. The land my son fought so hard to capture gone in just 10 minutes. We have done nothing wrong why are you punishing us you should punish the old government.

b. Look at Germanys new border in relation to France. How would you feel as a Frenchman with these changes?
Explain your answer in a short paragraph. I am so glad we have gotten about a humungous piece of land. Whats even better we got lots of factories in the process. I am glade those Germans lost that land now they can pay for the damage they cost us and also

apologies for their wrong doing, my only regret that many of the people in my town had to die in order to get this land

3. Objectively, do you consider the Treaty of Versailles to have been fair? Explain your answer in an extended
paragraph. I think that the treaty was a little bit unfair and also a little cruel. I mean they lost their land even if they had nothing to do with it. I also believe the treaty was wrong because Germany lost most of its iron industry for their wrong doing. I also think that losing some of its population was wrong because they should have been able to keep the population they had before the war. The thing that I thought that was fair about the treaty was that they had to pay for the damage they caused. I believe that disarming the country was fair so that they can fight back and cause damage again.